Super Mario Odyssey players are glitching their way to the top of the jump rope leaderboards
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Super Mario Odyssey players are using a glitch to wrack up improbably high scores in the game's jump rope challenge, causing havoc with the mini-game's online leaderboards.
Odyssey's jump rope (or "skipping", if you prefer) challenge is situated in the urban sprawl of New Donk City. It can be found in the area's expansive plaza which, importantly, is also home to Talkatoo, the hint-giving bird that makes the mini-game-busting glitch possible.
The glitch is relatively well known in Mario Odyssey circles and works thusly: if you toss an item (includingy Cappy) at Talkatoo and trigger a conversation with him just as he's hit, the camera will lock in place, retaining certain attributes of Mario's current animation. Crucially, the effects of the glitch can be delayed by quickly shifting the camera away from Talkatoo. It will then trigger next time the bird comes into view.
By stringing all these elements together, it's possible to prep the glitch in New Donk City's plaza, adjust the camera away from Talkatoo, then position yourself ready to begin the jump rope challenge. Finally, by simultaneously performing a ground pound and looking back at Talkatoo to trigger the glitch, Mario can float in the air indefinitely. You can see this unfold around the 18-minute mark in this impressively exhaustive video.
Once Mario is perpetually airborne, all you need do is position him above the rope and sit back as the points climb higher and higher. The jump counter maxes out at 99,999, which is why so many players with the same score now languish at the top of the leaderboards, simultaneously champions and the exact opposite of winners.
It's certainly an interesting exploit in terms of pure ingenuity but, given its effect on Odyssey's leaderboards, it's likely to be one that Nintendo fixes sooner rather than later. And if you'd like a detailed look at how not to do the jump rope challenge, you can watch Eurogamer's Chris Bratt make a spectacular fist of it earlier in the year.
